Microsoft’s app store intentions, new hardware and Xbox Cloud Gaming on iOS? | Pocket Gamer.biz
Last night on the Xbox business update blogΒ and podcast, Microsoft gaming boss Phil Spencer, Xbox president Sarah Bond and head of Xbox game studios Matt Booty spelled out the state of play for Xbox, teasing new hardware, confirming those cross-platform rumours but dodging Xbox mobile app store chatβ¦
Fortunately The Verge were able to tackle Spencer on the spicey subject after the event. So is Microsoft planning it’s own Xbox-branded alternative app store?
βThere are three sides to it. Thereβs regulatory work to actually open up the ability to install another store on an Android or an iPhone, which isnβt done yet. Weβre actively engaged in the Digital Markets Act, and the work that has to happen to make that possible,” explained Spencer. “Then thereβs us actually building the store. We have some history there from having our own mobile store in the past. So we know how to go get that work done.”
βThereβs a lot of excitement there for alternative storefronts on mobile devices that can offer better economics and are more, letβs say, βgamer firstβ because itβs going to be an Xbox store that we would go put there. Weβre able to drive engagement to that store because weβre now one of the biggest mobile publishers with Candy Crush, Call of Duty mobile, Diablo Immortal, and Minecraft. So we can actually use those games to help drive engagement to our store, which can benefit third parties as well.β
And will Xbox Cloud Gaming proper be coming to iOS any time soon, thanks to the European DMA pressure?
βThereβs not room for us to monetize Xbox Cloud Gaming on iOS. I think the proposal that Apple put forward doesnβt go far enough to open up. We will continue to work with regulators, and Apple and Google, to create a space for alternative storefronts. I think alternative ways for people to buy things creates goodness for consumers and creators. I think the largest platform for gamers, which is mobile, should have the same,” Spencer stated.
Stumbling steps into multi-platform publishing
The main event for most watchers last night however was the pre-event gossip of Microsoft abandoning Xbox exclusives and bringing Xbox games to other formats. Halo on PlayStation? Surely not⦠But it does make sense.
With the increasing prominence of mobile and PC, the necessity for such exclusives is looking increasingly dated. Todayβs gamers (and content consumers in general) expect to be able to access what they want, where they want. Place your property off in some distant walled garden and the chances are that the mainstream wonβt even notice that it’s there.
Thus, rather than locking in a game in order to drive hardware sales, limiting a game’s potential audience to owners of a single piece of hardware, starts to look like a bad move. And with Microsoft on the back foot as regards units sold, securing such Triple-A games from developers and publishers willing to walk away from PlayStation or Switch dollars has grown increasingly hard.
However, on the night – perhaps scared of fan-boy retaliation – Microsoftβs wall-breaking moves were markedly less dramatic than everyone had predicted.
I do believe that exclusive games – games that are exclusive to a single piece of hardware – are going to be a smaller and smaller part of the games industry
Phil Spencer
βI do believe that exclusive games – games that are exclusive to a single piece of hardware – are going to be a smaller and smaller part of the games industry,β admitted Spencer. βThatβs not some great insight. If you look at the last ten years and what the biggest games are today itβs a natural place. Whether thatβs one console and PC, multiple consoles, mobile and PC, you see big games landing on multiple platforms, and we want to be a great platform for creators who are trying to realise that potential.β
So which Xbox exclusives are making the jump to owners of Sony and Nintendo consoles? Thatβs when things got a little hazyβ¦ While the team WERE able to confirm that there would be four such games coming to other formats – former Xbox only games previously only available on Xbox – they werenβt able (or ready) to name themβ¦
Draw your own conclusions. Perhaps the ink wasnβt dry on the contracts. Perhaps the makers of these games didnβt want Xbox to blow their cover just yet. Perhaps Microsoft were seeking to calm the Xbox loyal, worried that theyβd spent years backing the wrong horse. But after weeks of speculation the potentially explosive βmomentβ became something of a damp squib non-announcement.
βNot Starfield or Indiana Jonesβ
Spencer did however confirm in direct questioning that the four titles are βnot Starfield or Indiana Jonesβ – two games that were hotly tipped to be getting the multi-platform treatment before last night’s event. Instead the four games are all βover a year old and have been on Xbox for a while.β
βTwo of them are community driven games and moving to other platforms will give us the opportunity to invest in them – itβs more players to play with. And two are smaller games that were never really meant to be platform exclusives. As theyβve fulfilled their potential on Xbox and PC we see an opportunity to utilise the other platforms,β explained Spencer.
[Spoiler alert: Rumours place those four titles as being Hi-Fi Rush, Pentiment, Sea of Thieves and Grounded.]
And – perhaps most tellingly – Spencer was keen to nix any notion of floodgates opening any time soon. βIf youβre on those other consoles, please donβt take this as an indication that everything is coming. Because itβs not.β Likewise head of Xbox game studios Matt Booty was keen to highlight that β[Xbox] Game Pass will only be available on Xbox,β ending rumours of Microsoftβs intentions to get out of the hardware business, at least for one more generation or two, with the advent of βcross play and cross saveβ and βco-operationβ being the key message of the night.
Speaking of hardwareβ¦
And new hardware? The rumours of an Xbox handheld wonβt go away and Spencer did little to scotch that. While acknowledging that there will be new Xbox βoptionsβ coming this holiday season on the podcast, Spencer told The Verge βIβm a big fan of handheldsβ¦ but nothing to announce. What keeps people from playing certain hours? Well thereβs some sleep, school, and kind of normal life, but some of it is just access. Do I have access to the games that I want to play right now? Obviously weβre kind of learning from what Nintendo has done over the years with Switch, theyβve been fantastic with that. So when I look at Steam Deck and the ROG and my Legion Go, Iβm a big fan of that space.β
It certainly wouldnβt be too much of a stretch to imagine Xbox taking a leaf out of PlayStationβs Portal curioβ¦ But rather focussing on remote play from your console, how about giving the unit some brains and making a portable Game Pass player?
So fear not Xbox fans. Whatever they do next, rest assured itβll involve hardware, itβll play your existing game library or subscription and itβll be coming down your chimney this Christmas. And if you’re on mobile? Looks like Xbox is working harder than ever to let you play too.